When you review as many dungeon crawlers as I have, after a while they start to look all the same: dank, underground labyrinths with some variations of monsters like skeletons, goblins, orcs and other variations of Western mystical creatures. Japanese dungeon crawlers try to make up for this by using their own unique monsters and surroundings, but often also end up borrowing from Western themes. Haunted Dungeons: Hyakki Castle on the other hand decides to embrace the theme it has chosen for its dungeons: medieval Japan and folklore/fairy tales. Is this enough to stand out from the rest of the pack? Let’s take a look at Haunted Dungeons: Hyakki Castle for the Switch and find out.
Kami
Based on Japanese folklore/fairy tales- Most dungeon crawlers that I’ve played over the years have always taken place in dungeons styled after medieval Western architecture. So after a while they’ll start to blend together so much that you can’t tell which game’s dungeon is which. Haunted Dungeons on the other hand bases everything on Japanese foolklore and fairy tales from the Edo era. So instead of goblins and other types of Western fantasy creatures, players will encounter yokai, oni, kappas, and all sorts of strange Japanese fantasy creatures. And they’re ever designed just like how they would look in old Japanese paintings.
Hit em high, hit em low- One of the most unique mechanics in Haunted Dungeons is that you’re able to split your party of four into two teams. These teams are able to move independent from each other, however you can only move one team at a team, as the other team that is not in use will turn into stone. This minor set back can be used to your advantage, as there are puzzles that require teams to stand on switches at the same time so that one can move and hold open gates for the other team to get through. It can also be used as a diversionary tactic when battling yokai.
Flavor text is tasty- As mentioned many, many times before, most dungeon crawlers really don’t have deep stories. They usually depend on flavor text get players motivated to play and explore. That too at times can be a bit bland. Haunted Castle’s story/flavor text is actually pretty good. The game takes place during the Edo period. Tokugawa Ieyasu has just finished bringing all of Japan under his control. Even though hr as taken control and the war starting to come to a halt, there were still some pockets of resistance. One such resistor is Kigita Doman, a genius Onmyoja master, who plans to overthrow the newly installed shogunate and take rule for himself with the uses of forbidden magics. However even after killing the shogun’s elder counsel, Kigita Doman was captured with a desperate counterattack by the shogun’s sorcerer. Wanting to know the secrets of Doman’s magic, the shogun sentences him to exile on a small island. Ten years later a package reaches the Shogunate. Inside the package was three heads and a letter signed Hyakki Castle Lord Kigta Doman. Word also got to the shougun that a mysterious castle had appeared on Hyakki Island, the same island that Doman was exiled to. Realizing the threat that Doman possess, Shogun Iemune gathers a team specializing in the supernatural and sends them to Hyakki Island to put a stop to Doman.
Like I said, dungeon crawlers rely on flavor text to encourage players to keep the players exploring, and with Haunted Dungeons flavor text, its just as tasty as a big bowl of ramen.
Oni
Split parties can get disorientating- While I did mention that being about to split the party into teams of two is really helpful, it can be a bit disorientation at times. This is especially true when playing the game in portable mode on the Nintendo Switch. When dividing the party into two teams, the screen is split in halve to show the view of each team. Moving each team one at a time while exploring the various levels of Hyakki Castle can get disorientating, at least for me it was. At first its easy to keep track of both teams, but once you get to the upper levels of Hyakki Castle, you start to encounter more aggressive yokai that requires you to split up and blindside them, solve puzzles that separate the teams further apart and combating a decreasing hunger bar, all the while having to move each team one at a time.
Haunted Dungeons: Hyakki Castle is a decent dungeon crawler. It embraces the Edo era, Japanese folklore/fairy tale themes it has chosen for its design, introduces a new mechanic that I haven’t seen done in other dungeon crawlers and its flavor text is might tasty. Just make sure that you have your bearings straight when you decide to split up the party to double team an enemy. While the game has been released for PS4, PC and Switch, I highly recommend getting the Switch version.
